Strategy Workshop

Iikka Vehkalahti

Iikka Vehkalahti is the Commissioning Editor for the Finnish Broadcasting Company, YLE Documentaries, Finland since 1998. He is the Executive Producer for Steps For The Future and Another Finland and one of the Series Producers for Why Democracy. Iikka served as a board member in Steps India and IDFA. During 2011-2012 he was a visiting professor at Tampere University.

In YLE he has commissioned several internationally awarded documentaries like 3 Rooms Of Melancholy by Pirjo Honkasalo, Decent Factory by Thomas Balmes, Gone To The Wind by Gennadi Gorodin, Recepies for Disaster by John Webster, The Journey by Markku Lehmuskallio, Paradise by Elina Hirvonen, In The Shadow Of Holy Book by Arto Halonen, The Steam Of Life by Jonas Bärghell and Punk Synchrome by Jukka Kärkkäinen ja J-Passi.

He has be also involved in numerous international well known documentaries such as Act of Killing, Armadillo, Viva Les Antipodes, Five Broken Cameras, Happiness, and Why We Fight.

He has been a co-producer or Executive producer in several awarded documentaries produced in Asia, Middle-East and Africa. Among them are Lakshmi and Me by Nishta Jain. Gurkha–The Selection by Kesang Tseten, Wana Wina by Duminsani Bhagati and Voices of El Alto by Benjamin Oroza.

Before YLE he directed several awarded documentaries for Epidem and Musafilm, among them Past is Present, Amal, Inam, Naila, Man from the Shadow, Daughter of a Terrorist, Our Common Future? and Tehri–Two Journeys.

Iikka Vehkalahti has been lecturing, leading the workshops or having master classes in several countries around the world, among them Russia, USA, India, South Africa, Kenya, Nepal, Canada, Australia and of course many European countries.

Among the publications there is a one book about documentary filmmaking “Steps By Steps”, written together with Don Edkins.